The Economic Distraction

The Economic Distraction

Unless you’re living in a bubble, you are aware of the current economic crisis we are facing, not only as a nation but globally. Easy credit and our insatiable desire for more were building a time bomb that has finally reached its last tick before exploding. If it hasn’t affected you directly yet, as in your retirement account, I’m sure it will in the very near future. I think it’s safe to say that this crisis is going to impact us all.

This crisis has gotten our attention and many of us are mad. We’re mad at the financial institutions, banks, Wall Street, mortgage lenders and our governmental leaders who let it happen. When you listen to all the talk, you get the idea that it’s the “other guy’s” fault. It’s rare to hear anyone come out and say, “I was wrong, it was my fault.” When it comes to the current political debate, it looks like the Republicans are going to bare the brunt of the blame. But is this right? Are the Republicans really the ones to blame?

It’s time that we as individuals take responsibility for the economic mess we’ve made in our own lives and homes. We have bought into the idea that “you deserve this....,” “you owe it to yourself to have.....” and so we’ve borrowed and mortgaged ourselves well beyond our means. Our god is our appetites for more and more and we have become slaves to those appetites. (Philippians 3:19; Romans 16:18) They own us. We have put our hope in our wealth, rather than the God of all hope. (I Timothy 6:17; Romans 15:13) Our greed, the desire for more and more, is our idol. (Ephesians 5:3-7) And now, when it looks like we’re going to all be affected by this economic crisis, we want to point the finger, to blame someone, without looking at what we’ve done ourselves to contribute to this mess.

This crisis has become a distraction because it has caused us to ignore some very important issues that will impact the direction of our nation when it comes to electing our next president. Because this crisis has hit us “in the pocket book” where our treasure lies, we’re not looking at other issues that will have an even greater affect on the freedoms we enjoy. Issues of life and death, the value of life, the freedom to worship the One True God, the value of marriage between a man and a woman, government intrusion in our lives, these are all issues that have taken a back seat to the economy. We need to stop looking at government to solve our problems and start looking to the only One who can really help us.

As I have been pondering this whole mess, I was thinking of Proverbs 22:7, “...the borrower is servant to the lender.” I’m not sure if there’s anything that describes what we’re going through any better than that statement. We have become servants, slaves, to our greed. But something else also struck me, and I’m just throwing this out as food for thought......I’ve always wondered how the anti-christ could control buying and selling. (Revelation 13:17) I think we may now have the answer because “the borrower is servant to the lender.” With the economic bailout package, the banks are in the position of being servants to the government.....the government has the potential to control who buys and sells.....

What’s the answer? REPENT! As I read through Revelation, I’m struck by the number of times I read, “....they still did not repent.” God is looking for repentence, individual and corporate. “Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord. Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven, and say: ‘We have sinned and rebelled....’” (Lamentation 3:40-42) He will indeed hear our prayers and forgive us, and maybe even postpone the impending judgment we so deserve.